Game Preview
Parcells vs. Gibbs. Doesn't get much better than this. Who leads the series in matchups between these two coaches? Bill Parcells by a count of 11-6. Not too surprising to people who have studied Parcells. His teams play best when it counts - vs. division and conference rivals. Bill Parcells will have his team ready. But, he's not facing Steve Spurrier tonight. He's facing Joe Gibbs. The Redskins faithful will be fired up to take a shot at the Cowboys who have dominated this series lately. Joe Gibbs has already shown he is taking this team in a different direction than did Steve Spurrier. The linesmakers have given the Cowboys respect by installing them as just a 1.5 point underdog as a Monday Night visiting team. Do they deserve the respect?
Matchup
Vinny Testaverde, believe it or not, leads the league in passing with 667 yards in his first two games. Dallas's defense, #1 in the league last year, has been middle-of-the-road so far. But, there's only been two games and one of those was against Minnesota which has one of the top offenses in the league. I do think this Dallas defense is as good as it was last year. However, my power ratings give Washington the edge in this one. Power ratings are quite unreliable at this point in the season given the limited number of games but it is worth noting.
Injuries
Washington is without their defensive on-field and spiritual leader, LaVar Arrington who's out with a knee injury. They are also expected to start Patrick Ramsey at QB as starter Mark Brunell is banged up. Dallas is relatively healthy. Julius Jones is out but it's not a big impact.
Systems/Trends/Angles
The Cowboys have owned the Redskins in recent history having won 12 of their last 13 matchups and covering 9 of the last 10 against the Redskins. But Dallas is just 1-6 ATS in their last seven road games. Washington is 3-10 in their last 13 vs. NFC East rivals but I don't put too much weight on this one as Gibbs is a much different coach than Spurrier was. The biggest one for me: The Tuna is 21-6-2 as an underdog in his coaching career. This guy steps it up big time vs. division opponents to. Also note that in September games, NFL visiting teams that are small favorites or underdogs when facing an opponent off a loss are 52-22 ATS including 1-1 last week.
The Bottom Line
This should be a close one but I like Dallas to win it. Dallas has the better defense and an offense that is working. No one is better than Parcells in big division matchups and Dallas simply has Washington's number. I'm going to go ahead and make Dallas an official one unit selection tonight with a money-line pick at +105.